


Hot Peppers

by jibberjabber13



Series: A Rose by Any Other Name [2]
Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Humor, I enjoyed writing it, Romance, Summer, this is pretty cheesy but
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-17
Updated: 2018-05-17
Packaged: 2019-05-08 08:14:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14690049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jibberjabber13/pseuds/jibberjabber13
Summary: The one where Jas takes a shine to the new farmer, Emily teases Shane relentlessly, and Shane continues to deny that he has feelings of any kind.





	Hot Peppers

He couldn’t remember when he’d gotten so out of shape, having been a former gridball player, but the reality of the small seven-year-old girl currently outrunning him was putting it into pretty clear perspective for him. Shane wondered when she had gotten so fast as he chased her up the path next to Marnie’s Ranch and towards the neighboring farm.

“Jas, get back here,” he managed to wheeze out in between long gasps for air. Much to his displeasure, the girl continued to sprint at full speed, entering the edge of the neighbor’s farmland. 

“You have to catch me first, Uncle Shane,” she called out, looking back over her shoulder to face him. “Then you won’t be ‘it’ anymore.”

The pursuit continued through the farm, the pair weaving through tall rows of summer crops and patches of trees. The summer heat left Shane feeling blistered and raw all over; he was almost certain he was going to look like a lobster once the day was over, his pale skin already burning bright red.

He had decided that was the last time he would ever agree to play tag when he suddenly ran into Rose, the girl who lived on the land they were currently trespassing on. As he collided with her, he saw a basket filled with hot peppers fly into the air and land with a thunk a few feet over. Both of them toppled to the ground, landing side by side, Shane panting with exertion. 

The farmer was not a woman of many words, especially when in shock, and she stayed silent as she sat up in a daze and tried to regain her composure. Shane, meanwhile, had rolled over onto his back and was squinting into the blinding sunlight, only vaguely aware that this was probably very bad for his eyesight.

“Shane?” she finally said, her voice quiet and questioning, and she reached a hand out to help him up. He grabbed her outstretched hand, hers soft and warm and his slick with sweat, and he stumbled to his feet. He hoped she hadn’t noticed how disgusting his hands were as he wiped them on his shorts.

“Hi, Rose,” he said, reaching up to scratch behind his neck. “Uh, nice weather we’re having.”

Rose said nothing in response. By now, Shane was used to this response from the farmer, understanding that she would speak when she felt the need to. “Where’s Jas?” he said. “We were playing tag, and she decided to run up into your farm. Sorry.”

Shane heard a soft giggle as Jas poked her head out from behind Rose. “I win,” she declared, marching over to him. He scooped Jas up and placed her on his shoulders.

“Well, we already knew that, Jas,” he said with a small laugh.

“No need to be sorry,” Rose finally said as she bent over and began to pick up the hot peppers that had fallen on the ground and place them back in the basket. “It happens.”

“Those are your favorite,” Jas said, pointing to the crops. “Right, Uncle Shane?”

“Right,” Shane said and felt his ears start to turn red. 

Instead of responding, Rose smiled softly in a way that made Shane feel dizzier than he had been when he was lying on the ground. 

He continued to stare at Rose, dazed and unsure of what to say next. He felt that if he opened his mouth he would start babbling incoherently. Mercifully, Jas saved him from humiliating himself by asking if she could have a tour of the farm.

Rose took Jas by the hand and led her through the fields, explaining the names of all the plants in that soft voice of hers. When they got to Rose’s flower garden, Jas looked absolutely enchanted and stopped to smell each individual flower, emerging every time with a dab of pollen on her nose.

“Hey,” she said, turning to him while Jas was distracted by the flowers. “How have you been lately?”

It was the first time either of them had addressed the talk they had on the docks, where Shane had told her about all of the sadness that lived in his heart. He’d gone on for a long time, and she’d listened and held her hand over his, squeezing it at all the right moments to provide comfort.

“I’m fine,” he said and knew it was a lie. She knew it too.

“I started seeing, um, a counselor a couple weeks ago,” she said. “In Zuzu City. Because I kept getting sad about my dad. It’s helped, I think.” 

“Thanks. I’ll keep it in mind,” he said. “And thanks for, you know, listening.”

Rose nodded. “Anytime, Shane.”

* * *

“So,” Emily said, leaning over the counter to speak to Shane. He knew by the look on her face that she was about to engage him in a conversation he very much did not want to be a part of. “I heard you paid the farmer girl a little visit yesterday.” She waggled her eyebrows at him, a move that earned her a sneer from Shane.

“Jas and I were playing a game, and we ended up there,” he said. “Nothing to it. It was mostly Jas’s fault, anyway.” He downed the rest of his beer in a few nervous gulps, praying Emily would drop the subject. He knew she wouldn’t, though.

“Hm, that’s not what I heard,” Emily said in a singsong voice.

“Don’t you people have anything better to do than to talk about my life?”

“Shane, there’s like, thirty people in this town and the closest movie theater is a bus ride away. What else do we have for entertainment?” she said. “Besides, it’s just so cute to see how flustered you get whenever someone talks about her.”

“Emily, cut it out,” Shane said as he slammed his glass on the counter. Emily giggled and picked up the empty glass to refill it with beer.

“Ah, come on, Shane,” she said. “Lighten up a bit.”

The doors to the saloon opened, and to Shane’s amazement, in walked Rose. She glanced around the bar nervously before making her way towards where Shane was standing.

As she approached the bar, she opened her mouth to say something to Emily, but much to the farmer’s surprise, Emily placed her hands on either side of Rose’s face and closed her eyes. She began to hum loudly to herself as Rose darted her gaze sideways to give Shane a panicked look. Shane shrugged his shoulders; he was just as confused as she was, but he was more used to Emily’s eccentricities by now.

“Um, what are you doing?” Rose said, her voice coming out as a small squeak. 

“Don’t worry,” Emily said. “I’m just reading your aura.” She began to breathe in deeply, in out, in out, in out.

“My...aura?” Rose said, but her question went unanswered until Emily finally pulled away from her.

“Yeah, your aura,” Emily said. “Like, your energy. Yours is a a nice, pastel pink.”

“I’m not really sure what that means,” Rose said, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion.

Shane sighed. “Give it a rest, Emily,” he said. 

“Fine, fine,” Emily said and held up her hands in mock defense before heading to the other side of the bar to serve another customer.

Once Emily was gone, Rose turned to Shane. “I wanted to give you this,” she said, holding out a basket with cloth over it. He hadn’t even noticed her carrying it when she walked in.

“Thanks,” he said and took the basket from her hands. He pushed away the cloth and recognized the red shade underneath as hot peppers. “You remembered.”

When he looked up at Rose, her cheeks were slightly pink, and she was fiddling with the split ends of her braid. “Yeah,” she said and swallowed. “Um, I had some extras. Just thought you might like them. I don’t really like spicy food.”

“Right,” he said and nodded. “Makes sense. Thank you.”

She nodded and ducked her head as she gave a small wave goodbye. She kept her head down as she walked out of the saloon, face turning pinker with every step. Shane watched her the whole way, his mouth slightly open in disbelief.

“You guys are just adorable,” Emily cooed, having somehow found her way back to the other end of the bar. She was looking at Shane with a grin on her face.

“Shut up, Emily,” he said and tried to ignore the thumping in his chest.

The next day, he managed to swipe a frozen pizza from the back of JojaMart when Morris wasn’t looking and stuffed it in Rose’s mailbox along with a letter.

_Dear Rose,_

_Thanks for the hot peppers. They were delicious._

_Here’s a gift in return. I hope you like it. Also, I think Jas wants to come back for another visit sometime, so just let me know about that._

_-Shane_

He had only slightly lied about the part with Jas. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for taking the time to check out my work! If you're interested in reading more, there's three other one-shots like this one in the series and a current multi-chapter in progress that takes place after the four stories, which you can find at this link [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14901741/chapters/34514367)


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